As It Ever Was
by RandomEternally
Summary: Written for the Memory Challenge on HPFC. When everything you thought you knew, you don't know anymore, what do you do?


"Well, I for one, think we should keep him."

"Keep him? He's not a puppy." Bellatrix rolled her eyes at her younger sister.

"Shame - the Dark Lord might at least have some use for a good guard dog. Oh, well, we'll just keep him for a little while then - it'll be fun!" Bellatrix couldn't help but clap her hands in delight at the thought.

"He's not a toy, either, Bella." This comment turned Bella's grin into a laugh that bordered on the hysterical. She flounced from her chair and slinked her way around the large dining table, to where Regulas Black was sitting. He stiffened in his chair as she ran a long, white finger through his hair, down his cheek and along his jaw line.

"Silly, ickle Reggie - so naïve. Haven't you learnt yet; all of them are toys, and this-" she waved a long arm dramatically around at nothing in particular, "is all just a game!"

"Stop playing with the boy, Bella - it is his brother we're talking about after all." This had the opposite effect from what had been requested, as Bellatrix just leaned in closer to her youngest cousin.

"Is that it, Reggie? Do you still love your dear big brother? But you can't possibly look up to him, after all, he is among the most vile of blood traitors?" Regulas seemed to regain his composure and sat up, leaning forward so that the tips of their perfectly formed noses were almost touching.

"I know perfectly well what he is, thank you, Bellatrix. But seeing as you're the one who wants to _keep _him so badly, maybe it's you who still has the soft spot for him." Bellatrix's eyes narrowed, and she reached up a hand, adorned with a heavily gilded silver ring, and stroked Regulas' black hair away from his face.

"Both of you stop it!" Narcissa had risen from her gilt chair and now stood next to her sister and cousin. Bellatrix just smiled.

"It looks as though you are learning after all, little Regulas." she pushed herself into a standing position using the headrest of Regulas' chair and brushed past her sister, as she strode from the room. "Are you two coming - or am I going to have all the fun by my self?"

/

"James? James, wake up. C'mon Prongsy! Please Prongs." Remus gave up patting James' face in an attempt to wake him, and let his hand fall to the side.

"He's been out hours now! Isn't there anything we can do? And what about Sirius?"

"We've got people out looking for Black, and as for Sleeping Beauty here…" Remus jumped out of the way just in time, as a stream of water shot from Moody's wand and hit the unconscious James full in the face.

"Was that really necessary, Mad-eye?" Remus asked as Alastor Moody stowed his wand back inside his overcoat, and shrugged.

"You wanted him awake, and I don't know about you but I wasn't going to try kissing him; it did the trick, didn't it?" Remus turned back around to find James Potter soaked to the bone, brushing his dripping hair from his face and squinting around wildly.

"Here - you might want these." Remus said, handing James his Reparo-d glasses. He took them and shove them awkwardly onto his face.

"How do you feel?"

"A bit wet…Why am I wet?" In answer Remus looked at Moody, who donned his hat and button his cloak.

"Well, now the boy's awake, I'll be going - my house has been empty far too long. You never know who's been snooping. Remember - Cons-"

"We know-" Remus interrupted, "Constant vigilance!"

"And don't you forget it!" And with a small pop, Remus and James found themselves alone. Remus turned back around to find James pressed as close as he could get to the wall behind him, and looking at him with narrowed eyes. Every now and then his eyes would flick to something else in his room, then back to Remus again.

"Prongs? You alright?" Remus asked gently, this was very un-James like.

"What's happening? Who are you? Where's my wand?" James demanded in a rush.

Remus sighed - what else was going to go wrong today…

/

Sirius Black's first thought was that he had died, and by some celestial mistake had escaped the dark pits of hell. Wherever he was, was anything but dark. Actually, it was so bright that it hurt his eyes and made him squint. He was in a bedroom, lying on a bed that was so big it felt as though it was swallowing him up. The room's walls, and the large, gilded wardrobe, and detailed dressing table, and the large four-poster bed as well as it's coverings, were all a pure, clean, bright white, with the only other colour being the silver which the details were picked out in. It was when he attempted to sit up, and his head felt like what he would later compare to being hit by several bludgers, that he concluded that he wasn't quite dead.

"Oh, goody - you're awake!" Sirius started at the unexpected voice, coming from the corner of the room, to his left side. Through his still squinting eyes he turned to see a young women, not much older than himself, sitting in a white armchair, next to the white panelled door. She reminded Sirius of a dark black ink stain on a piece of fresh parchment, soiling the pureness, just by being there. But he didn't even know the girl, so he tried not to be so judgemental. "We thought that you were never going to wake up - we were getting worried." The young women told him with a grin, as she sat herself on the edge of his bed. She was far too familiar for his liking.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Sirius asked. The woman put a hand over her heart an sniffed dramatically.

"Oh, my dear cousin - I was afraid of this! You poor boy - just what exactly do you remember?" Sirius was just think odd this apparent cousin of his was when the bedroom door opened.

"Bella, do you really thi- oh, you're awake." The boy that had entered looked a few years younger than himself and Sirius couldn't help but not the similarities between them - maybe he was another cousin.

"What happened to me - why can't I remember anything?"

"Not even your name?" the boy asked.

"Sirius - Sirius Black, but that's about it. And that there was a battle, and an explosion, but other than that, nothing." About t half way through when Sirius was speaking another women came in, she looked like the first but with white-blond hair, instead of black. She matched the room better than the first.

"Oh, no! Well never mind - we'll just have to re-educate on everything you've forgotten."

Sirius was confused, but he wasn't blind or particularly stupid, so he didn't fail to miss the look on Bella's, he thought her name was, face when she'd said 're-educate', or the uncomfortable look on the other two's faces.

/

After James had dried off, the boy, Remus, had told him what had happened. He'd said that there was a fight (which James remembered parts of), and that somehow a spell had gone array and that James and another boy had took the brunt of it. He'd tried to jog James' memory about other thing as well, showing him a map and telling about how they and their friends were the infamous Moony, Wortail, And when James had picked up a photograph on what turned out to be his bedside table, Remus had said,

"Now you must remember her?" The photograph was of himself, laughing, with his arms around a very pretty red-head. The him in the photograph kissed the girl's cheek, making her laugh and look up at him with sparkling green eyes, from under her eyelashes. He could certainly see what had apparently attracted him to her.

"No, sorry." he said, Remus look shocked, James didn't know why - seeing as he couldn't remember much of anything.

"I can't believe that you don't remember Lily."

"I don't remember you, either." James reasoned.

"Yeah, but _Lily _- she's _Lily_!" James got the feeling that this Lily wasn't just a casual girlfriend. He also got the feeling that there was something Remus was avoiding telling him.

**/**

_**So that was chapter one! What did ya think? Like/dislike? Love/hate? Thoughts, feelings? Reviews please! **__**J**_


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